Genetic studies of the type 2 diabetes-like GK rat have revealed several susceptibility loci for the compound diabetes phenotype. Congenic strains were established for Niddm1, the major quantitative trait locus (QTL) for postprandial glucose levels, by transfer of GK alleles onto the genome of the normoglycemic F344 rat. Despite the polygenic nature of diabetes in GK, the locus-specific diabetes phenotype was retained in the congenic strain Niddmla, containing a GK-derived genomic fragment of 52 cM from the Niddm1 locus. Furthermore, Niddm1 was divided into two non-overlapping loci, physically separated in the two congenic strains Niddmlb and Niddm1i with distinct metabolic phenotypes. Both strains displayed postprandial hyperglycemia and reduced insulin action in isolated adipose cells. Furthermore, Niddm1i already exhibits a pronounced in vivo insulin secretion defect at 65 days, while Niddm1b develops a relative insulin secretory defect at 95 days. This suggests that Niddm1i impairs mechanisms common to insulin secretion in pancreatic B-cells and insulin action in adipocytes. Niddm1b rats show signs of increasing insulin resistance with age associated with obesity, hyperinsulinemia, and dyslipidemia. Moreover, the data indicated nonallelic interaction (epistasis) between Niddm1b and Niddm1i on the postprandial glucose levels. These data emphasize the pathophysiological complexity of diabetes, even within an apparently single QTL, and demonstrate the potential of the GK model in transforming the multifactorial diabetes phenotype into single traits, suitable for positional cloning.

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